When people get together in one place, it's only a matter of time before they start drawing lines. And when God gets people together in one place, he turns the line-drawing dial to eleven.
Leviticus is putting things in order from its first chapter to the last. In fact, this seemingly endless stream of laws is what gives Leviticus its (undeserved?) reputation as the most boring book in the Bible.
But is there a deeper creative madness to the method?
Questions About Rules and Order
- What does it mean to be unclean? Abominable? Profane?
- Do the kosher rules contradict what God says about food in Genesis 9?
- Do the laws in Leviticus serve a valid purpose other than indicating that having order in society is a good thing?
- God forbids the mixing of fibers, but the priests wear ceremonial garments that mix wool, linen, and other fibers. Does this make the priests an abomination?